''TV Party'' was a public-access television

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

show in New York City that ran from 1978 to 1982.

History

After Glenn O'Brien was a guest on the weekly variety television show, ''The

Coca Crystal Coca Crystal (December 21, 1947 – March 1, 2016) was an American television personality, anarchist and political activist, connected with 1960s counterculture. She was best known for her weekly cable-access variety show ''The Coca Crystal Show: ...

Show: If I Can’t Dance, You Can Keep Your Revolution,'' he went on to create his own show, ''TV Party''. Glenn O'Brien was the host of ''TV Party'';

Chris Stein Christopher Stein (born January 5, 1950) is an American musician known as the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film '' Wild Style'', and write ...

, the co-founder of the pop band Blondie, was the co-host; and Walter "Doc" Steding was the leader of the TV Party orchestra. Amos Poe was the director. Fab Five Freddy (Fred Brathwaite) was a sometime cameraman and guest. Bobby Grossman was the staff photographer. Guests on the show included Mick Jones,

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

, James Chance, Klaus Nomi, Charles Rocket, Elliott Murphy and

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

. In 2005 Brink Films has re-released some of the best of the 80 plus episodes on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, as well as a documentary about the TV show. In 2019, public access show ''

The Special Without Brett Davis ''The Special Without Brett Davis'' is a public-access television show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network. The show takes the form of an ever-changing live "special" with a new format and performers, and a host portrayed by comedian Brett Davis. ...

'' paid tribute to TV Party, with host Brett Davis portraying O'Brien, alongside performers such as Ziwe Fumudoh and Spike Einbinder.

References

External links

TV Party, the DVD website

Blondie, Klaus Nomi, etc. on TV Party
(YouTube clip) * Mick Jones on TV Part
Part 1Part 2
(YouTube clip)
The TV Party Band (Walter Steading and the Dragon People) with David Byrne, 1979
(YouTube clip) 1970s American music television series 1980s American music television series American public access television shows 1978 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub

History

See also

References

External links